Reflections
by lionsloyal
Summary: A short story from Christophe's POV. Christophe meets Dru for the first time, but it's hard for him when he feels there is unfinished business between himself and her mother. And worse she looks just like her mother.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again! After writing The New Girl, from Graves' perspective I decided to write a small story from Christophe's. It's likely to be no more than two or three chapters but please read and review. And if you haven't read my other Strange Angels stories please do so (The New Girl and Taints on the Tongue) Cheers and hope you like. =)**

**Chapter one, Goodbyes**

Today something would happen. I could sense the undercurrents, the build up to a storm. It made the air thick with expectations and tension. I stood by the window where I'd remained for most of the day with watchful eyes. I was watching nothing and everything in particular. I was ready to defeat anything that came my way. The depressing little town appeared normal. But only appeared, to those like me we could sense the paranormal, and this place was scarred from the blood that had been drunk here. I dug my fingers into the windowsill damaging the wood.

Being here was wrong. I hated the cold depressing little place. It was like life had been long since drained from the place. It was like everything was clear of colour. I could not contemplate her choice to come here. What was the allure? Did this place mean anything to him? Had Dwight Anderson convinced her to come with him here? Or was it her idea? I thought it might be hers. She was always intelligent and when people came searching, this was the last place they would look. But they had looked and they had found her. The traitor had revealed her whereabouts. She had been mercilessly killed here.

And I would mercilessly kill here too. Some time soon. I knew that the bait would not take long to do the task. Then blood would be split. I would finally be victor in the personal vendetta that I had held for so long. I would finally have my revenge. Dwight would not beat me to it, and I needed him out of the way. He was going to ruin everything; he was too messy and too ignorant of what we are. He may have been with her, he may have loved her, he even bore a child with her, but he would never fully understand. I'd understood her, more than anyone. She'd been my confidante and I hers. She was my best friend.

The day she'd left. It brought pain to my heart and being. She'd sought me out in the target room. 'Christophe I need to talk to you', she'd said softly.

I put down my gun and had turned to her. 'Of course skowroneczko moja .'

'Christophe I'm leaving', she whispered.

'Leaving? And where is it you're going to?'

'I can't tell you,' she continued to whisper, refusing to look at me.

'Well that doesn't matter, I'll be with you anyway.

'Chris, you can't', she said. 'I'm leaving…alone.'

'That is impossible. I _refuse_ to let you.'

'You_ have_ to Chris. I can't live like this', she pointed to herself. 'I refuse to. I want to be normal; I want to have a life. I…I can't keep hiding, I can't keep living but not experiencing anything.'

'You're being irrational. You're not normal, you're a svetocha. Your blood is being sought for. You have a target on your forehead. You cannot just deny what you are.'

Tears filled her eyes. 'I want to be normal Chris, I want-.'

'This is because of him isn't it?' I said harshly.

She still wouldn't look at me properly and it was tearing me into pieces that she couldn't even meet my eyes. 'Yes', she replied clutching her necklace; a gift from Dwight Anderson himself. 'I love him, Chris,' she managed a smile. 'And he loves me.'

'And he wants you to deny what are?' I was angry.

'No! But I want to, Chris. Please, you've got to understand me, I beg of you. See it from my way Chris. I want to be normal…I want to live without watching my shadow. I'm tired; I'm so tired of fighting. I need to let myself be happy.'

'You'll still be hiding! You'll still be watching your shadow.'

'No I won't, not if I go somewhere where no one would think to look.'

I looked away from her. I felt so angry. She was giving up on me. How dare she give up on me after all I'd given to her? I taught her how to fight, how to resist drinking, and this was how she repaid me. By turning her back on me. I picked up my gun and started shooting the target in my anger. I could still feel her presence.

'Christophe, I hoped that as my best friend you of all people could understand why I have to do this.'

I slammed the gun down and turned to her. I wanted to be angry, but I was startled by her tears that poured from her eyes. 'If you're serious you'd look me in the eyes and tell me that this is what you want.'

She looked up at me and met my eyes; we stared at one another for a moment. 'I want to leave Christophe. I am leaving. There is nothing anyone can say or do to stop me. I'm going because it's what I want, it's what I need. No-one's going to know where I am, not even you. I hope one day you'll be able to understand, and maybe even forgive me.'

I could not think or even form a sentence in answer. But I suddenly knew that she had chosen her path. I knew that I would no longer be part of her life, for she had chosen to leave that part of her behind. I was unable to say anything as she stepped forward and kissed my cheek and breathed in my ear. 'Goodbye Christophe.' And I could not call out or stop her as she walked away from my life, leaving nothing but memories with me.

**Disclaimer: Strange Angels belongs to Lili St. Crow. Plus thanks to Lady Artemis for Christophe Reynard's Vocab, it's very useful! **


	2. Chapter 2, reflections

**Chapter two, reflections **

She hadn't spoken on the telephone. It irked me, because I knew it was her, and I'd wanted to hear her voice to see if it was her mother's. But she had remained silent, so I'd gone ahead and told her where I would be. And I had waited, and waited. I had just wondered whether she would turn up at all but then she had. She'd stumbled and struggled through the snow and I was _struck_.

I was struck by her image. I couldn't think, I couldn't move. I just was. She was her mother and yet not. The differences were slight. But I could hardly think what they were because I could only stare. She was a reflection of her mother. I felt myself being transported into the past, when I'd taught her with the Malaika, she'd lacked the energy. 'I don't want to be here', she would just repeat and I'd tell her that she would get used it, 'It will take some time'. Every time I had told her the same words, but deep down I knew that she would never accept it.

A growl had interrupted the image and I was back to reality. I had frozen, listening hard now. And it had skulked out of the shadows. A broken, Ash to be more precise. What the hell had I been doing? I snapped back to a reality so violently that it should have hurt. It wasn't the time to reminisce when Dru was in danger. But I had fought the wulfen to keep her safe, though she had repaid me with a shot.

Now I stood in front of the cracked mirror. My wound was already healing, it would be gone by tomorrow. It had hurt, and she had a good aim. That was unlike her mother…no…that wasn't fair. Elizabeth had a good aim, but only after a lot of practice. But even then she'd had that look in her eyes. The one that said, 'what's the point?' I found her most frustrating when she looked at me like that. I wanted to shout and get angry, but I'd always found it difficult to get mad at her, possibly because she'd always had an undercurrent of sadness.

Dru hadn't had a look of sadness; she'd had a look of unwavering determination. She was stronger than her mother, I knew that much. Perhaps her mother's murder made her tougher, rather than weaker like it would for most. I was furious at myself for letting the Broken get that close to her, I had temporally lost myself in the past. It was strange to see Elizabeth's daughter almost at the age that Elizabeth's body had frozen at. I hadn't known about Dru for a long time and when I did…I hadn't known what to feel. Betrayal that Elizabeth hadn't told me, hurt for that too, anger because I would have protected Elizabeth and the child from the beginning, before it was too late. I remembered so well when I'd found the man that Elizabeth was giving it all up for. Dwight Anderson.

'You must be Christophe,' he said as he walked into the kitchen. I was almost startled because he hadn't jumped or shouted or even pulled out a gun. 'Lizzie's told me all about you', he said and had smiled.

Lizzie? I almost asked; Elizabeth had never seemed to like nicknames.

'I'm not here for pleasantries'; I told him standing to full height.

Dwight straightened up himself and raised an eyebrow. 'I guess this goes somewhere along the lines of you threatening me.'

'Yes', I said irritated at how coolly he was acting.

'Well it's not going to work. Elizabeth's chosen, she's quite stubborn when she wants to be', he drawled, still relaxed.

It was like something snapped in me at that second. I was furious. How dare he tell me what Elizabeth was like, I knew better than anyone. In a flash I was in front of him, I had a ball of his shirt in my fist, and still goddamn it, still, he stood calm.

'Elizabeth is going to die if she stays with you. That is a _fact_. What don't you understand? She is like a blazing beacon, for miles around she radiates heat. Her smell lures them in, you'll be lucky if you get a few quiet years, if that.' I was struggling not to revert to my mother tongue in my temper. 'She's sitting in the butcher shop readying to be killed. You've branded her already, now it's just a matter of time.'

For the first time I saw fear reflected in his blue eyes. 'Don't you think I don't know what is at steak here? I told Elizabeth, again and again that it will be too dangerous. You don't know her as well as you think you do. She has never wanted to be a Svetocha; she has always wanted to be human. And now she's finally got her chance, you're trying to stop her. But she's too determined, on this, she won't even listen to me. I want what's best for her, and if that means not seeing the woman I love then I'll do it, but the fact is, she won't. So I'm in her life for better or for worse.'

I let go of him and stepped back. 'You'll be the death of her,' I said and I was gone.


	3. Chapter 3, fighter

**Chapter 3, fighter **

I had regretted saying those words to him, when she had gone it was all I could think about. I knew that if he loved her then those words would replay in his head over and over and he would blame himself. At the time the only thing I'd been worried about was whether he would tell Elizabeth what I had said. But I had known he wouldn't. Because he didn't want to upset her, because he knew that she cared about me, and if she knew what I'd said she'd hate me. I wouldn't blame her one bit. Since she had gone I often thought of the way I'd acted, I had probably caused her pain. I should have accepted what she had wanted, but I couldn't when I'd known what would happen. It still hit me hard when I found out. I was fuming; I was seething with such a pure hatred. I needed him dead…my father. But I wouldn't see him like that, because the word father connoted a relationship, and I had nothing to do with him.

I had hunted him down and searched for him for years keeping Elizabeth's death fresh so that when I did destroy him I would have the full satisfaction of having my vengeance fulfilled. And Dwight Anderson had come stomping in with his military boots and had destroyed my hard work in an instance, and now he was more than likely dead, especially since his daughter turned up alone. And now I would be turning up on her doorstep. Since the likelihood of Dwight's murder was so high Elizabeth's daughter had no-one, so now I would take over as her protector.

The house wasn't anything special and it wasn't the house that Elizabeth had died in. Yet it still felt as though I was walking back into the past to see Dwight to threaten him. The house was radiating blue lines of protection, warding off evil. I felt a little proud for a moment, but they weren't as strong as they could potentially be. I reached the door hearing a slight movement in the house. I extended my arm and knocked quickly. Nothing, but again there was slight movement, I could feel her presence, and I wanted to get in to look at her closely enough to see Elizabeth again. I rapped the door again, was she crawling on the floor or did my ears deceive me? I shifted foot to foot growing very impatient. Well I wasn't going to wait any longer so I used the old powers to open the sliding bolt. I heard a whisper that almost stopped me. But I bolted the door open and went straight through the warding lines, which would either terrify or calm Dru. I knocked her gun away with ease. And received to my great astonishment and surprise; a fist to the face. I felt the wet blood trickle down from my nose and felt very, very annoyed. She was exceptionally lucky that she wasn't an enemy because otherwise it would have been an action that she greatly regretted. I had stumbled back. If she allowed me time then I would have been very impressed by her moves, all of which were too slow to reach me in time, but she could have with her Svetocha speed. The punch had succeeded because it had the element of surprise. I hadn't expected a fight with her.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw it. I almost sighed because I had no time to move with Dru fighting me and because I was stupid enough not to see what the Asian skinned boy really was. But he hit me and we stumbled outside onto the porch. Laughter escaped my lips as his growl vibrated through the house. Dru just kept surprising me! We were in the snow and I cracked a bone of his. Did this beginner really think that he could take down me? But he wasn't alone because Dru hit me again and I was fast growing angry. Just as she punched me I managed to yell. 'I'm here to help you, fucking morons!'

I couldn't even look at Dru and see her mother there in that moment. Because Dru might look like her mother but she was clearly not her. She was strong and tough and gritty. Her arms were toned and strong for a girl, she had a tough expression. When I'd first met Elizabeth she had been quiet and vulnerable. Misery held her tight. Dru's father was probably recently dead, but still she maintained the strength to fight. And she must have fought and won judging by the faint reek of zombie coming from her house. I knew that the smell would be strong inside. Dru didn't sound like her mother either; she was sharp and on edge, keeping near the dog but not using it as protection. She looked at me with mistrust. Only fair with the traitor still alive.

And when she said, 'Segej, who's that?' I had stared before I could only laugh. Because she really didn't know anything about what she was. I thought that she was joking or playing dumb on purpose. I didn't realise to the extent of what she didn't know. It was shocking that Dwight let his daughter live so precariously. She knew nothing about the power which she held, about how potentially lethal she was. And this may be the better thing, with Elizabeth she knew all about Djamphir, Svetocha and the Suckers, she was brought up for normality. Dru could be raised to fight and to kill the Suckers, and she would. She was a fighter already, and that was without the Malaika, and without being trained by the best, by me.

**Phew! That was the last chapter, and I have to admit I struggle to write from Christophe's perspective. After I wrote the first chapter I was very stuck. I didn't really know if I wanted to carry on, but I'm never one to suddenly give up so here we are. I'm going to post up another Graves perspective pretty soon as he's a lot funnier and easier to write from. **


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